Storm
by SkulY2K
Summary: An OC-centered fanfic focused on my own OC, Shock the Echidna. After a chance meeting, Shock becomes an unwitting tool of the egotistical Dr. Eggman.
1. Calm Attitude

**A/N: This is an OC-centered fic. Although other Sonic characters _will_ appear, it will mainly focus on my personal OC, Shock the Echidna. If you don't like OC-centered fics, don't read this.**

**Reviews are very welcome.**

* * *

A seventeen-year-old grey echidna sat in the cool shade of a large rock to escape the day's heat as he ate. His hand rested on a bent knee holding a bunch of grapes. He twisted another purple sphere off and automatically popped it in his mouth, his mind, as usual, deep in thought.

His name was Shock, and when he was alone, which was almost all the time, he started thinking. A lot. He spent the majority of his time in the countryside near the Mystic Ruins, and had become adept at noticing a slight shift in the air – usually meaning a change in the weather – and had seen every type of all the countryside animals in the area. What he _hadn't_ seen a lot of were other people. Humans and "anthros", as his diverse collective race were sometimes called. He didn't want to be around others. Partly because they made him uncomfortable and partly because he was dangerous, albeit unintentionally. He had an innate ability to manipulate electricity, just as other anthros had the ability to control fire or had the gift of flight or strength.

However, he did not have complete control over his ability. Sometimes he would feel a tingling inside him. Seconds later, his entire body would become electrified and bolts would shoot out from him, indiscriminately frying anything nearby. Over the years, he had learned to somewhat suppress it, but was still unable to fully control the outbursts.

It was for that reason he had left his home and family and lived in the countryside, away from noise and people. He didn't have any friends, but that didn't bother him; he preferred to be alone.

_...Right?_ he asked himself, with some uncertainty.

His electric blue eyes flicked to the cloudless sky to focus on a strange shape trailing smoke as it gradually descended. As it neared, Shock could see it was some sort of flying contraption in the shape of a semi-oval. The pilot was a fat, bald man with a huge moustache and spectacles that appeared to have the lenses made out of one-sided glass.

The echidna watched with interest as the moustachioed man struggled with the controls and then yelled when the craft veered towards a forest. Shock lost sight of the strange contraption and even stranger pilot when they dipped below the tree line, although he heard them crashing through the branches and the heavy _thump_ as the machine hit the ground.

Frowning slightly, Shock stood up, dropping the grapes on the ground for any hungry animals that wanted them as he did so, and walked towards the forest to find out what was going on. From the loud complaining, whoever the pilot was, he was alive and not so injured that he couldn't shout at his "stupid rust bucket" craft.

Winding his way through the trees, Shock saw the heavyset man with his back to him, bent over his machine, fiddling with it and grumbling. Even from behind, the grey echidna could see the moustache jutting out on either side like thin brown wings. The wings flapped slightly as the bald man continued muttering.

"...I hate that hedgehog..." he grumbled to himself.

Shock cleared his throat to get the man's attention. The egg-like figure started and turned to face the echidna.

"Knuckles? How did get here so—?" the bald man looked closer, "You're not Knuckles..."

Shock opened his mouth to respond, but the large man in front of him spoke again before he had the chance, "Well, who are you? Are you one of that meddling hedgehog's new friends?" he asked with a deep frown.

"...Hedgehog? No. I'm Shock. Shock the Echidna."

"You're not with Sonic?" asked the bald man suspiciously.

"Sonic..." the echidna said with little recognition in his voice, "...No."

"You've never heard of Sonic the Hedgehog?" asked the heavyset figure even more suspiciously.

"...It seems vaguely familiar. I don't pay much attention to what goes on beyond the country."

The bald man's right eyebrow twitched up, "Do you know who _I_ am?"

"I think I've seen you flying around, before. But, no. Sorry, should I?"

There was a glint in the man's eye as a plan formed in his head. He placed one hand behind his back and raised the other in the air, "I am Doctor Eggman, philanthropist, animal-lover and arch-nemesis of Sonic the Hedgehog. That blue devil ruins almost every plan I come up with to better the world."

"Is that so?" asked Shock, not too interested.

"Come now... 'Shock', is it? How would you like to join me in my fight against the evil Sonic and his cohorts?"

"Sorry, but no."

"Is there a reason, if I may ask?"

"I'm... dangerous," replied Shock in a low voice, _And I don't really want to be around anyone..._

"Dangerous?"

"Yes, my... I have the power of electricity. But sometimes, it goes out of my control and I become a danger to everyone and everything around me."

"Hmmm. I _may_ be able to help you with that, my friend."

Shock gave him a cynical look, "How so?"

"Accompany me back to my lab and, trust me, I will do what I can to aid you."

"I'm not so sure..." replied Shock, folding his arms and turning slightly away.

"Really now, do I look like someone who can't be trusted?"

The echidna turned his head towards Eggman with an expression that asked, _Have you seen yourself in the mirror, lately?_

Eggman grimaced, "Okay, so I look a little rough, but you would too, battling against that despicable hedgehog."

Shock thought for a while, then sighed, "...Alright."

"Splendid," said Eggman, giving a smile that was anything but winning, "But, before we can go anywhere, I'll need to repair this machine."

He turned to the craft as he spoke. He studied it for a while before reaching over and pressing buttons on the control panel and using various tools on the insides of the machine.

After a few moments, he turned to Shock, who had been leaning against a tree trunk, absently watching squirrels scurrying along the branches, "Mister Shock, you said you can control electricity, correct?"

"Yes...?"

"Well, do you think you could give my machine a little jolt?"

"I guess..."

"Thank you," said the Doctor and then gestured to a circular plug hole, "Just give it a second or two of juice."

Shock stepped forward and placed his index finger over the hole. Hoping he wouldn't overload the machine, he sent a current through his finger and into the socket. The onboard panel lit up and the craft hummed.

"Hmmm. He might be more useful than I thought," said Eggman quietly to himself.

"...What?" asked Shock, distractedly, removing his finger.

"Hm? Oh, nothing," replied the overweight scientist, waving his hand dismissively, "Just thinking out loud. I do that, sometimes; so many brilliant ideas in my head, you see. Often they just have to come out," replied Eggman.

_Whatever..._ thought the echidna, rolling his eyes as Eggman inserted the plug into its socket.

The large Doctor clambered into the cockpit, "Come on, my new friend. Let's get you back to my lab, shall we?"

Still not fully trusting the scientist, Shock nodded and climbed into the space behind Eggman's seat where various small scientific gadgets also lay.

The craft's engine whined on and after a wobbly ascent, the ship rotated and then flew off in the direction of Eggman's base.

_I just had a brilliant idea..._ the Doctor thought with a menacing smile.


	2. Clouded Intentions

As Eggman's craft zoomed towards his base, Shock noticed the air gradually getting thicker and staler. The sound of vehicles got louder and the echidna poked his head past Eggman's seat to see where they were headed. They were flying towards what looked like a city. Dark clouds hung over the vast expanse of gloomy industrial buildings. The air got thicker and hotter the closer they got. Soon, they were flying over the streets. Looking over the side, Shock saw robots of all shapes and sizes travelling along the cracked roads. The echidna caught a whiff of exhaust fumes and promptly coughed. He covered his nose, but it did little to alleviate the smell.

"Welcome to Metropolis Zone," Eggman said over his shoulder.

"That's a pretty ironic thing to say; it's not very welcoming," Shock replied with a scowl, staring out over the pollution-filled streets.

"My apologies, but what you see is the cause of that hedgehog," the Doctor growled, "He... it makes me angry thinking about it. He's such a heartless monster..."

_One hedgehog caused all this? Surely that can't be..._

"Ah!" exclaimed Eggman, "Here we are! My base of operations."

The craft stopped in front of a tall building, the tallest one, in fact, Shock noted. There was a giant golden model of Eggman's head adorning the top of the building. The echidna frowned at this strange decoration as the craft descended.

The two occupants exited the ship and were immediately surrounded by a group of mean-looking, crab-shaped robots, all with one large, spiked claw. Shock instinctively arced electricity between his hands, but Eggman put a hand on his shoulder.

"Easy, my boy. These are my creations. They won't harm us. They're just here to guard my Egg-O-Matic."

Shock stopped the crackling electricity flowing through him and turned his head towards the Doctor, _Your creations?_

"Do you doubt me?" asked Eggman, pushing his glasses up.

"I don't know..."

"Trust me. I'm an inventor. I have created countless robots to aid me in dealing with—"

"Yeah, yeah, the hedgehog."

Eggman frowned at him, but his expression quickly softened and he cleared his throat, "Shall we?"

The echidna followed him as he walked towards the building's entrance, guarded by two praying mantis-like robots armed with large spikes for arms and staring yellow eyes. Above the metal entrance doors was another head in the likeness of the Doctor, only this one was more of a caricature with a creepy grin.

The doors slid apart and the two entered, the robots watching Shock's every step until the doors closed with a solid _thunk_.

They were in a metal hallway lined with sleek, gun-toting robots. Shock noticed with some apprehension that they all had their barrels trained on him. The echidna walked close behind the Doctor as they passed through another metal door and into an elevator. After travelling up several storeys, the elevator doors opened directly onto a large laboratory. All around the room were various machines and gadgets, each stranger-looking than the last. At the far end, a window spanned almost the entire wall, allowing a view of the polluted city.

"Welcome to my laboratory, Shock. Hopefully, we will find a solution to your problem here. In fact, I have every confidence we will."

_I hope this guy isn't just all talk..._ Shock thought, looking around the lab, relieved at its cool temperature and relatively cleaner smell.

"So," continued Eggman, "What would you say normally triggers these outbursts?"

Shock walked over to the window overlooking the city and stared at his reflection's deadpan expression.

"I don't know... it... happens on its own."

Eggman cupped his chin in his hand, "Hmmm. Do you think perhaps strong emotions set it off?"

_I wouldn't exactly say that, but I guess it's possible..._

"...Perhaps..." responded the grey echidna.

"Or maybe when you use a large expenditure of your energy?"

"...Maybe..."

"I'm not saying those _are_ the causes, but they may help initiate it."

Shock had no words to respond with. He simply nodded and continued to stare out the window at the depressing city. He crossed his arms and turned his head slightly to the side, "Did that hedgehog really cause all this?"

The large Doctor smirked and walked to join the echidna at the window. As he approached, his smirk disappeared and was replaced with a faked look of sadness, "Yes. You see that large building with the chimney-like stacks?"

"Yeah?"

"That was like a large air purifier. But Sonic and his friends, especially that two-tailed fox..."

"_Two_-tailed fox?"

"Exactly. He altered himself in such a way that gave him the ability to fly. That's how far they will go to thwart me."

An expression of disgust crossed Shock's face.

"I will grudgingly admit that the fox, although very young, has an extremely high IQ to rival my own. He played a major role in this disaster – just as he altered himself, he altered the air purifier to do the opposite of its namesake."

The echidna only shook his head.

"We'll talk more about them later, though. For now, let's see what we can do for you."

"Alright..."

Shock accompanied Eggman as he made his way over to a control panel in front of some kind of chamber with a window set in it facing the inside of the lab.

"Now, Shock," the Doctor gestured to a door next to the window, "step inside this chamber and I will examine you. We can also use it to run some more practical tests if the scans don't return anything."

"Right," replied Shock and stood in front of the door. Eggman pressed a button on the panel and the door slid up. Stepping inside, Shock felt a little claustrophobic, a feeling which intensified when the door closed. The chamber was medium-sized and all-metal. The echidna's footfalls echoed slightly as he walked around the space.

There was a click and Eggman's voice came through from an unseen speaker, "Shock, stand roughly in the centre of the room. I'll be able to scan you there."

He did so and was startled and unnerved when two strange devices lowered from the ceiling on either side of him. They were about twice his height, angled inward at the top and were coloured black.

"Stand as still as you can."

The arms slowly rotated around him, occasionally emitting a flickering green beam. Shock began feeling slightly nauseous, but remained as still as he could. Soon, the arms stopped rotating, locking back in their positions at his sides. They rose back into the ceiling and his feeling of nausea passed.

Shock looked at the Doctor as he examined a nearby screen. Eggman nodded and turned to him.

"Well, I have the bioscan data, but it will take some time for this to be fully processed. You may as well come out now."

The echidna nodded back and made his way out as soon as the door opened. Shock found it strange that he felt claustrophobic, as he had never felt that way in his life. He shrugged it off and walked over to the monitor Eggman was standing in front of. On it, he saw what looked like an x-ray along with several other coloured images of himself, but he couldn't figure out what they represented.

"Well, about that Sonic or whoever..." said Shock, turning to the Doctor next to him, "Tell me more about him."

"Hmmm. I advise you to be very careful around him and his friends. Or should I say 'accomplices'?"

Eggman proceeded to tell Shock about all the incidents that had happened due to Sonic and his partners, including the destruction of the _Life Egg_, an orbiting research station. It was designed for the purpose of discovering ways of giving life to dead and barren places of the planet. Or so the Doctor said.

He also told of the destruction of Station Square thanks to an echidna named Knuckles freeing the monster, Chaos, by shattering the Master Emerald. Eggman, despite his best efforts, couldn't stop Sonic and the others from feeding Chaos the Emeralds.

"And do you remember when the planet shattered apart?" asked the oversized Doctor.

"Yeah. That was... scary," admitted Shock.

"Agreed. Sonic and Tails attacked me. I was about to transform a dead wasteland into a lush jungle with the Light Cannon, which used the power of the Chaos Emeralds, but that fox modified it to use the Emeralds' negative energy and freed Dark Gaia. Sonic then used the residual energy to transform himself into a werehog."

"A... werehog?"

"Yes. At night, he became a terrifying beast. Thankfully, after I defeated Dark Gaia, Son—"

"How?"

"Don't interrupt," Shock scowled at this, but the Doctor continued, "Anyway, after I defeated Dark Gaia, Sonic lost his ability to transform."

"I see..."

"I know, quite unbelievable, but I assure you – those events happened."

"Hmmm..."

"As for when you found me – I had actually just lost a fight against the hedgehog. He always gets in my way..."

"I'd like to pay him a visit, myself."

"I'm not sure that's wise, my good friend."

Shock turned to fully face Eggman, "I can take care of myself, Doctor."

The scientist watched the echidna for a few moments, and then grimaced, "Well... hmmm... if you must. Just remember to be careful and don't listen to anything he says – it's all lies."

"Yeah, you mentioned that two or three times," replied the echidna, turning away.

"Uh... I just wanted to make _sure_ you knew that about him."

_Right... I'm out of here..._ thought Shock and began walking towards the elevator.

"Wait, how will you—?"

"I'll find him myself," replied Shock without stopping.

"As you wish. I'll have one of my robots take you out of the city."

The grey echidna walked inside the elevator and turned, "Thanks. I'll start looking at the Mystic Ruins," he said as he pressed one of the buttons.

As soon as the doors closed, Eggman broke into a wide, menacing grin, _Hopefully, that stupid echidna will be able to do some damage. I'm not expecting anything big, but knowing I have a new ally is sure to make that hedgehog uneasy... provided "Shock" doesn't listen to what the hedgehog says about me..._

"I have a good feeling about this."


	3. Tempest Meeting

Tails looked up from his book and sighed as he heard the sound of running feet outside his workshop for the hundredth time. A few minutes ago, Sonic had started doing something, and whatever it was, it involved running. A _lot_ of running. Tails put the book down on the table in front of him and went outside to see what the blue blur was up to.

He opened the door in time to see Sonic rush by, running along the plateau just below the workshop. The hedgehog grunted as he jumped off the end, curling himself into a spinning ball in mid-air, and then disappearing below Tails' line of sight.

Soon enough, Sonic reappeared and skidded to a halt in front of the young fox, "Hey, buddy, what's up?" he asked, with his usual grin.

"Sonic, what are you doing?"

"Heh. You see that hill over there?" Sonic pointed his thumb over his shoulder. Tails looked and saw the hill he was referring to not far off.

"Yeah?"

"I just wanna see if I can jump there."

"Oh... um... why?"

"Eh, why not?" said Sonic, shrugging "Nothing to do, anyway. Eggman's not going to be bothering us for a while; not after the wreck we made of that crazy flying thing of his."

"...Okay..." Tails said, raising an eyebrow. Sonic had strange ways of alleviating boredom, "Well, I'm trying to read and I can hear you running around out here. It's kind of annoying."

"Oh. Sorry, little bro. I'll try one more time, then I'll stop, okay?"

"Alright, go ahead."

"Watch this. I'll make it for sure, this time!"

Sonic got into a crouch and then started spinning on the spot. He boosted away, made a small jump – uncurling as he did so – and continued on foot. He launched himself into the air and mentally tried to push his body further, but like before, he didn't make it, although he came close.

He zoomed over to Tails again, "Oh man, so close! _One_ more try!"

"Sonic..."

"Okay, okay... I'm pretty hungry, anyway."

"You know where the chilli dogs are," replied Tails, nodding his head back at his workshop.

"Do I ever!"

Tails saw something moving behind Sonic. The hedgehog turned to see what the young fox was looking at. A grey echidna had just climbed up the last few steps to the plateau, his blue eyes flicking between the hedgehog and the fox.

Sonic turned to fully face the echidna. He raised a hand in greeting, "Hey there! I think I saw you watching me. Came to give me some tips or somethin'?" he asked with a chuckle.

The echidna didn't smile or make any sound; he just looked at the hedgehog expressionlessly, almost like he was studying him. Sonic's smile fell a little and he looked at the echidna with a confused frown, "Need help with something?"

The blue eyes moved to meet Tails', making the fox feel uneasy, "Um... excuse me, is there something you want?"

Sonic walked towards the newcomer, "Hey, no need to be shy. We'd be happy to help ya out."

The echidna's eyes widened slightly and he placed one foot behind him, teeth gritted, as if bracing for, or getting ready to, attack.

The blue hedgehog stopped and raised his hands, "Hey, whoa, whoa, calm down. My name's Sonic the Hedgehog," he gestured to the fox, "This is my buddy Tails."

"Hey," said the fox with a nervous smile.

Tails noticed that the grey echidna wasn't looking _at_ him, but at something _behind_ him. Looking over his shoulder, and seeing nothing, Tails turned back to him with a confused expression, "What?"

Then the fox realised and took hold of one of his bushy appendages, "My tails? Yeah, I've got two."

The echidna grimaced and Sonic frowned at the stranger's expression, "Hey, have you got a problem with my little bro?"

"So..." said the echidna, finally speaking, "You're the ones I've heard so much about."

"Oh, you _do_ speak," said Sonic, watching him warily, "Who are you? What do you want?"

"I'm Shock the Echidna. Doctor Eggman's told me all about you."

Sonic and Tails' eyes widened at the mention of the Doctor and exchanged glances with each other.

"Eggman, huh?" muttered Sonic, balling his hands into fists, "So, he's at it again, already?"

"Where are the others?" asked Shock, looking around.

"What others?"

"The rest of your little gang."

"Gang? What gang?"

"Just tell—"

Shock stopped talking abruptly and started breathing deeply. He felt the familiar horrible tingling inside him.

_No! Not now!_

Small arcs of electricity ran over his body, crackling.

"What... what's happening?" asked Tails.

"Hey? Buddy?" said Sonic, leaning towards him.

Shock fell to one knee, eyes closed, _Oh no..._

He knew he wasn't going to be able to control it this time. This time of all times. He yelled and the power within him exploded out. Bolts of electricity sparked in every direction. Sonic jumped back, narrowly avoiding getting shocked. Tails was not so lucky, with a bolt catching him just below the chest. He was lifted off his feet and flew back, landing heavily on his back.

"Tails!" cried Sonic.

A bolt hit the ground in front of the hedgehog, throwing up dirt and leaving a small crater. After several moments of running, jumping and spinning, the bolts stopped shooting from the echidna.

Although the discharge had stopped, electricity crawled over his body for a few more seconds. His breathing heavy, Shock stood up, albeit unsteadily.

Sonic sped over to Tails. The young fox was unconscious, but at least he was alive. The blue hedgehog lifted his gaze to Shock, who was backing off, trying to slip away.

"Hey!" yelled Sonic, blazing over to him. Shock started to raise his hand, but Sonic was too fast and knocked him to the ground with a shoulder barge, "You're not goin' anywhere until I get some answers!" said the hedgehog, looking down at Shock.

The grey echidna flicked his wrist up and fired a small bolt at Sonic, catching him by surprise and hitting him in the right shoulder, buying Shock enough time to stand up and drive his palm into the hedgehog's chest, sending a surge through his hand as it connected. Sonic fell to the ground, coughing.

His breathing still heavy, and aching from where Sonic had bashed into him, Shock staggered away from the scene.

Seeing the echidna escaping, Sonic ignored the pain he felt and shakily stood up, "Stop!" he called out and stumbled after him, only to fall to one knee after a few steps.

He looked back and, deciding Tails was a higher priority, made his way over to the fox, who was now coming around.

_Shock, huh? I'll be keeping an eye out for you..._

Sonic knelt beside his young friend, "Tails, buddy, you okay?"

"Ugh... I guess so... what... what happened to... what's-his-name...?"

"Shock? He managed to get away. Don't worry, we'll get him."

"Looks like Eggman's got some... new help..."

"Nothin' we can't handle," said Sonic, grinning, then grunted at the slight pain his chest.

.

_Well, that went great..._ thought Shock, sarcastically.

He wearily approached the single-wheeled, bug-shaped robot that had not only escorted him out of Metropolis Zone, but had provided him transport, as well. Climbing onto the back of the motobug, Shock sighed painfully and said, "Take me back to Eggman..."

The motobug clapped its pincers together and began putting along back to Metropolis Zone.


	4. Rain In the Night

Eggman turned from the large computer as he heard the elevator doors open. An eyebrow twitched up as a haggard Shock stumbled in, holding the area just below his right collarbone. The bald scientist crossed his arms, "So what happened?"

"...It didn't go well..." replied the echidna, leaning against a computer console.

"Which means...?"

Shock sighed, "Well, I met them. We talked for a short while – very short – then, I... discharged. One of the bolts hit that two-tailed fox you mentioned. He was knocked out."

"And Sonic?" asked Eggman, almost too eagerly, "Was he hit?"

"No. He was too fast."

_They didn't seem too... well; they looked less threatening than the Doctor..._ thought Shock.

"I see. Hm."

"Well, we did get into a small fight, but after I stalled him with a short burst of electricity, I didn't think it was wise to stick around there for much longer, so..." he winced from the pain.

"Well, at least you made it back."

"Huh," Shock grunted before turning his head away.

"So... what did you think of them?"

"I'm not sure, yet," replied the echidna, peering at the Doctor from the corner of his eyes.

Eggman nodded, "You'll see..." he turned back to the computer, "In the meantime, while you've been away, I studied your biological scan data. I've found out why you have this 'discharge'."

Shock showed some interest at this.

"There is something else..." continued Eggman, "Do you know why your fur is grey?"

"No. I've never found out," said Shock, looking down at his body.

"You're about to. It appears some of your cells are slightly mutated."

"Mutated?" asked the echidna, walking up to the monitor.

"It's an awful word, but it's not as bad as it sounds. Basically, the cells that give your fur its colour have changed in such a way that they give out the wrong bio-chemicals."

"I see... I guess now I know why I'm not red like all the others," he sighed quietly, "Now, what about my discharges?"

"Ah, yes. Well, that is caused by an abnormality in your genes."

"Oh, great. What am I, some kind of freak?"

"Now, now. Don't worry. I have developed a device which should suppress the discharges. It's experimental, so it may not work, but it's worth a try."

"Alright. You might not get any feedback from me for a long time. It's rare, like I said."

"Give it a shot, anyway. Here."

Eggman brought out a cylindrical metal object with a hole running through its centre.

"Wear this on your wrist," said the Doctor, handing the object to Shock.

Turning it over in his hands, the echidna looked for a way to put the bracelet on, then found it unhinged along its length. He slung one half on his right wrist, and then connected the other half, encasing both the joint and some of his forearm.

"It's pretty light," commented Shock, moving his arm around.

"Of course. I can't have you being weighed down, can I?"

_What does he mean by that?_

"Well, it's getting late and you've had a rough day. Take the elevator down to the third floor and go into Room Six. I've had a mattress and blanket put there for you, my friend."

"Thanks."

.

Shock stepped out of the elevator and looked down at the injury given to him by the blue hedgehog. A bruise had shown up and was tender to the touch. He walked down the corridor, thinking.

_I'm still not sure about them... I'd like to try and talk to them again, but I don't think I made a very good first impression. I'd rather not talk to _anyone_, but I'm involved in this, now, so I guess I have no choice..._

He looked up at the number on the door – six – with an Eggman caricature face beneath it. Shaking his head, he opened the door and switched on the light. Inside, the metal room was all but bare. Against the wall opposite the door were a mattress and a blanket like the Doctor said. Both the mattress and the blanket were a light grey.

_At least they match my mutant fur..._ he thought wryly.

Looking out the window, he saw it had started raining. He walked over and leaned his head against the glass pane, tiredly watching the constant hustle and bustle outside. He was glad the window kept out most of the noise.

He stepped back and stretched his neck. After walking over to the light switch, Shock closed his eyes before turning off the light. He stood with his eyes closed for several more seconds to allow them to adjust quicker and then opened them. With help from the few functional streetlights outside, he was able to see around the room. He made his way over to the mattress, got under the blanket, and once more closed his eyes, listening to the faint patter of rain mingled with the foreign sounds of city life. After what he had been sleeping on for years, the soft mattress and warm blanket felt alien, yet slightly familiar. Clutching the blanket, the echidna brought his hands underneath his chin, slipping into slumber.

.

_A smile appeared on his face as he felt gentle fingers stroking his locks. He knew it was his mother before he had opened his eyes to look at her. It was morning and the young echidna gazed lovingly at her, seeing the sunlight, muted by his room's closed curtains, brightening her light red fur._

_His smile dropped and he removed his hands from underneath his chin._

"_Mama... why do I look different?"_

_His mother looked at him sadly. Every so often, he would be consciously aware of his fur colour and ask why his wasn't the same as the other echidnas'._

"_You don't look different, Shock. Your fur is just a different colour, that's all."_

"_But why?"_

_She smiled and stroked his cheek with her finger, "Because you're special."_

"_But I don't want to be special," he mumbled, "I want to be the same as you and Papa..."_

"_I'm sure it'll get its colour when you get older. It's just a little late, son."_

.

Shock's eyes opened. It was morning, but there were no curtains or sunlight. His mother was not here, either.

Sitting up, he sighed and put his head in his hand. That dream, or memory, whatever it was, conjured up feelings inside him. His parents... he missed them. But it was for their own safety that he stayed away.

Shock looked at the device around his right wrist. If this thing worked, then maybe after all of this was over, he could seek them out, again. But after so long, would they welcome him back? Would he be able to fit in again? Would they remember him?

Would they still love him?

Rising stiffly, the echidna stretched, then walked to the window and studied the traffic below. Last night's rain still shone on the streets and land-based robots splashed through dirty brown puddles that filled the cracked, cratered roads.

_I hope it'll be over soon... I don't want this to be my life..._

He turned and left the room, taking the elevator to Eggman's lab.


	5. Dawning Realisation

"Good morning, Shock, my boy," said Eggman as the echidna walked into the lab.

"Hi," replied Shock, unenthusiastically.

"How are you feeling today?"

"Fine..."

"Are you sure? How is that bruise?"

Shock looked down at it. The bruise was beginning to fade and he hadn't noticed it when he had awoken. It hurt a little when touched, but that was all.

"I'll live," replied Shock.

Eggman nodded, "Hungry?"

"Not really," said Shock, looking around the lab, idly, "Listen, I'd like to spend some time alone out in the countryside."

The Doctor was silent for a few moments, then said, "Alright. But not too long. I'll need your assistance with something."

"Thanks," replied the echidna and started walking towards the elevator, "If I see Sonic, I'll try talking to him again."

"It would be safer for everyone if you just eliminated him," said Eggman, walking up behind Shock.

The echidna got in the elevator and turned to the Doctor, starting to get tired of him.

_Yeah, whatever..._

"I'll see what I can do."

With that, Shock pressed the button for the ground floor.

.

As usual, the sleek robots lined along the entrance corridor kept their barrels trained on the echidna as he walked down the entrance corridor.

Stepping outside into the thick air, Shock covered his nose to alleviate himself from some of the stench of exhaust fumes and other industrial smells.

Like before, a Motobug waited to transport him. He climbed aboard and directed the robot to where he wanted to go.

.

"Stop," said Shock as they approached the edge of a forest.

The beetle-like machine obediently did so and the echidna hopped off. He stared at the Motobug, which sat putting away, exhaust pluming out of its twin exhaust pipes.

"Turn off your engines."

The pipes belched a cloud before becoming quiet.

"Great. Now just... stay here."

Shock closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Peace and quiet, fresh air, birds singing, warm sunshine; he missed this.

The forest on his right, he walked along the edge and lifted his gaze to the blue sky where two birds slowly glided over the treetops, occasionally flapping their wings.

Something red in a tree caught his eye – an apple hanging from a branch. He hadn't eaten anything since he woke up and was starting to feel hungry. Shock approached the thick trunk and skilfully ascended. Hanging from the branch, he went along hand over hand until he neared the apple, then reached out and snagged the red fruit in his right hand. Looking down, the echidna gauged the distance to the ground and dropped, bending his knees to absorb the impact.

In the cool shade of the tree, he leaned against the trunk and was about to take a bite when he sensed something behind him and to his left. Right arm still raised, he peered over his shoulder into the shadows of the forest, but couldn't see anything other than trees and grass.

Frowning, he was about to look to his right when the apple was snatched from his hand. Startled, he turned, arcing electricity in his left hand.

Standing with the apple and a shocked expression was a white female bat. She had green eyes and a good amount of blue eyeshadow applied. Under a pink, heart-shaped breastplate, she wore a matte black suit, and to complete her outfit, she had white gloves and matching boots with pink hearts at the tips.

"Oh, I—I'm sorry! I thought you were someone else!" she stammered.

Shock stopped the flow of energy coursing through him and held out his right hand. The bat gave the apple back with an apologetic smile, "Sorry."

"Yeah," replied Shock, looking away.

The bat gave a small smirk, "You know, you _kinda_ look like a friend of mine."

"That so?"

"Mm-hm. Only he's red. I've never seen a _grey_ echidna, before."

"Well, that's the colour I am," said Shock with a shrug.

"It's different, I'll give you that. Anyway, name's Rouge."

"Nice to meet you," replied the echidna, flatly, taking a bite out his apple.

Rouge stepped into his field of vision, "And yours?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.

He chewed for a few more seconds, looking at her, then swallowed.

"Shock."

"Well, that's a pretty fitting name. You sure _shocked_ me."

"Yeah, sorry about that. I've got to go."

The grey echidna pushed away from the tree and walked past the white bat. She kept her eyes on him, smirking, and followed him.

"So, where are you going?"

Shock rolled his eyes, "For a walk."

"Where to?"

"Anywhere."

The two continued walking in silence for a few moments, Rouge looking at him the whole time, before Shock stopped and turned to the bat, "What?"

"Nothing."

"Why are you following me?"

"Maybe I just happen to be walking in the same direction you are...?" she said, teasingly.

The echidna shook his head and continued on, Rouge falling in step beside him.

"Nice bracelet, by the way," she said, "Where'd you get it?"

Shock glanced at her, "From Doctor Eggman."

"Oh, you know Eggman, huh?"

"Yeah..."

"Hmmm. So what's this bracelet thing do?"

_Is she ever going to go away?_ he thought, Rouge making him feel uncomfortable.

"Sometimes, I lose control of my electric ability. This bracelet is supposed to suppress it. I don't know if it works, yet."

"I see. Well, hopefully it does what it's supposed to."

_Yeah. Are you done?_

"So," she continued, "you say you know Doctor Eggman, huh? What's the story with that?"

_Apparently not..._

Shock told her how the two met and some of what they had talked about.

"And now I'm looking for Sonic," he finished, the two still walking.

"Why's that?"

"To find out more about him and take him out, if need be."

"Take him out? Why do that?"

"Isn't he responsible for a lot of the problems that have happened? Like freeing a monster that destroyed Station Square or causing the planet to split apart?"

Rouge looked at him quizzically, "Hon... that was Eggman."

Shock stopped in his tracks and turned his gaze to her, "What?"

"Believe me; Sonic would _never_ do those things. Eggman's just using you. I know Sonic and he's not like that. Not one bit," the echidna saw her expression was sincere, "Shocky... he's lied to ya."

_No... _thought Shock, _But then... that _would_ explain why he's so obsessed with trying to get me to take Sonic out..._

"So Sonic's...?"

"The exact opposite of what Eggman's been saying."

Shock shook his head in disbelief. Rouge put a hand on his shoulder, "How about I take you to see Sonic himself?"

"...Alright... but we're not exactly on good terms, right now. We had a... an encounter."

She winked and said, "Don't worry, he'll understand."

Shock didn't know what to believe, but he followed Rouge in the hopes he would find out the truth.


	6. Clear Eyes

Walking behind Rouge, Shock thought over what she had said. Eggman had lied to him? The echidna clenched his fists. He despised the idea that he had been used. He had led a solitary life and after a chance meeting, he becomes someone's tool.

Rouge's voice brought him out of his thoughts, "Hey isn't that one of Eggman's mechs?"

Shock blinked and saw her gazing over at the Motobug he had ridden on.

"Oh, uh... yeah," said Shock, "It took me here."

"Really? Neat! How do you drive it?"

"I don't. I just sit on its back and... tell it where to go."

"Mind if I ride it to Sonic's? It's quite a distance and my feet'll be killing me by the time we get there."

"Why don't you just fly?" he asked, glancing at her wings.

She gave a small shrug, "I fly pretty fast and I don't know if you or your metal friend here could keep up."

"Well, I... guess it might be useful to bring along."

Rouge grinned and took off with her wings, then landed in a cross-legged sitting position on the Motobug's back.

"Why don't you join me up here?" asked Rouge, patting a space beside her, "It'll be a tight squeeze, but I think we'll manage."

Shock blushed, "I'll... I'll walk."

"Alright, but remember – there's a space here."

"Y-Yeah..." said Shock, then cleared his throat, "Follow me," he commanded the bug-like robot.

There was a small _bang_ from the Motobug's exhaust pipes as its engines started up.

"Alright," he said, addressing Rouge, "Which way do we go?"

The bat pointed in the direction they had been heading, "Somewhere over there. Once we get closer, I'll be able to remember exactly where to go."

He nodded and began walking in the direction she had pointed, the Motobug's single tyre rolled over the grass as it followed him as instructed.

"This is a pretty smooth ride," commented Rouge. Shock had to agree – it was.

.

The journey was more or less silent. Rouge tried to get Shock to talk and open up, but the barrier he had kept up almost his whole life remained as solid and impenetrable as ever.

_Hmmm... this echidna's quite a challenge..._ she thought, _Not that I'm complaining, though – I like a challenge..._

"So," began Rouge, "What's the deal with your fur? Why's it grey?"

"...According to Eggman, it's something to do with my cells; they're mutated. That's why I'm the colour I am."

"Oh, I see. Well, at least they didn't make your fur pink, huh?" she chuckled.

"Yeah," he replied, not even a hint of a smile on his face.

"Oh, come on. It was a joke."

"Yeah, I know. Funny," he said, still wearing the stoic mask.

"...You don't smile much, do ya?"

"Well, give me something to smile about."

"What about my _incredibly_ funny joke?"

Shock simply sighed and shook his head.

Rouge laughed at his response, "You're cute."

"Are we nearly there?" he asked, hoping to shift the focus away from himself.

Still grinning at him, she nodded, "Mm-hm... almost, yeah."

_Good..._ he thought.

.

With directions from Rouge, the two soon stood at bottom of the stairs that lead to the plateau below Tails' workshop.

"I'm not sure about this..." muttered Shock, half to himself.

"Trust me. He'll understand once it's explained."

"Alright, if you say so..."

The two went up the stairs, Rouge leading with Shock staying a few steps behind. At the top, the bat saw Sonic sitting with his back against a red biplane, apparently asleep.

"So-nic!" she called.

The blue hedgehog's eyes opened slowly. He blinked a few times and stretched before his gaze fell on her.

"Oh hey, Rouge," he said, getting up stiffly, using the plane as leverage, "What are you doing here? It's not every day we get a visit from you."

"Hey there," she responded, raising a hand in greeting, "I got someone here who wants to talk."

She looked down the steps at the grey echidna who was still slightly anxious about meeting the cobalt hedgehog again. She cocked her head in beckoning.

_Here goes..._

Climbing the last few steps, Shock turned his head to face the hedgehog. For a short moment, Sonic thought it was Knuckles, knowing the bat's liking for him. Then he realised the fur was grey and instantly remembered the last encounter.

"You!" he cried, glowering at the echidna, and getting into a fighting stance, "Rouge, what's going on?"

"Calm down, Big Blue. There's been a bit of a misunderstanding here."

"Misunderstanding?"

At that moment, Tails came out of his workshop.

"Oh hi, Rouge!" he said joyfully. Then he spotted the echidna and his eyes showed hostility mixed with slight fear at the memory of the electric outburst; he still had a burn mark on his chest where a bolt had hit him.

"What...?" started the fox.

"We all need to have a talk," said Rouge, her gaze sweeping over the three of them, "Shocky here isn't what you think he is. Hear him out."

The young fox's mouth twisted in doubt. His blue eyes flicked from Rouge to Shock and back.

"Well... alright," said Tails, "But out here. I'm not having _him_ in my home."

"Fair enough," she said with a shrug.

_I can understand that..._ thought Shock.

"Alright, I'm listening..." said Sonic, bringing his fist up to the side of his face, index finger extended, and rested his elbow on his opposite hand.

Rouge turned to the echidna and nodded. Shock was silent for a moment and averted his gaze as he thought.

_Where do I begin?_

He shook his head and decided to say whatever came to mind, hoping it would go okay.

"I... really, this is all because I was tricked by the Doctor. I met him after he crashed his ship in a forest quite a distance from here."

Shock continued telling them everything that had happened, needing prompting every so often from the hedgehog and fox about various subjects, such as the bracelet. Soon, he finished his story and awaited Sonic's and Tails' reactions.

"Alright. I see, now," said Sonic. He looked directly at Shock and nodded, giving him his usual grin, "Sounds like the honest truth. I believe ya."

Tails nodded, his feelings slightly influenced by Sonic, "Yeah, me too."

"Listen, sorry for giving ya a hard time."

"No, I'm sorry for causing all this trouble," apologised Shock, "It's my fault for believing him..."

"Hey, don't worry about it. You're not the first echidna to be tricked by that egghead."

Rouge smiled at the exchange, "Well, looks like you boys are going to get on fine. I guess I'll leave you to it."

"Thank you for helping me," said Shock.

She smiled, "No problem, hon."

Going into a hover, she winked at him, "Catch ya later," she said, then turned to Sonic and Tails, and waved, "Goodbye, boys."

"Nice seein' ya, Rouge!" replied Sonic, waving back.

The three watched her fly into the distance.

"It's a good thing you met Rouge, huh?" said Tails.

"Yeah," replied Shock, "If it wasn't for her, this meeting probably wouldn't have happened."

Sonic was grinning at him, "I think she's got a thing for ya, too."

Shock frowned and looked away, blushing, _Right... whatever..._

The hedgehog laughed, "You got some tough competition, though..."

"Can we... talk about something else, please?"

"Hmm... like Eggman?"

"Yeah," the echidna said, then sighed, "I still can't believe he tricked me. Now I know the truth."

"Let's go inside," suggested Tails, pointing his thumb at his workshop, "You hungry, Shock?"

"A little, I guess. But are you sure?"

"About you letting you in? Sure. If that bracelet does what Eggman says, everything should be fine. Oh...!"

"What is it?" asked Sonic.

"Does that have... hmmm... I wonder if Eggman planted some kind of tracking device or microphone on it...?"

Raising his arm, Shock cursed inwardly, _He's right... I never thought of that..._

"Come inside. We can check there."

.

During tests on the high-tech bracelet, they found nothing suspicious.

"Looks like it's clean," said Tails, nodding in satisfaction.

"Well, as clean as something from Eggman can get," added Sonic, holding his third chilli dog, "Now, I think it's time we use this opportunity to get back at him. Whaddya say?"

Shock and Tails nodded.

"I'm in. But... make it quick. I'm not supposed to be gone for too long. In fact, he's probably wondering where I am..." said Shock, looking over his shoulder.

"Heh. You could just say you were fighting me and Tails. He'd be glad to hear that, right?"

_I suppose..._ thought Shock, nodding.

"Alright, then! Let's get to it!" exclaimed Sonic, clapping his hands together.


	7. Lightning Struck Down

Once again, Shock was on his way back to Eggman's base. As the Motobug rolled through the smog-filled streets with other mechanical creations driving, walking, or flying by, the echidna thought back to the planning they had done at Tails' house.

.

"_So, there's a Motobug outside?" asked Sonic._

"_Yeah. It'll do what I say and take me where I want," replied Shock._

"_Your own robot, eh? That's pretty cool!"_

"_Whatever. Let's get to planning..."_

_Sonic grinned and nodded, liking that the echidna wanted to get down to business quickly, "Well, how about we just attach a note addressed to Eggman to that robot of yours saying you're onto him, now?"_

"_Sonic, did you even think that through?" asked Tails, giving his older brother a 'what the heck?' look._

"_...It's somethin'," said the hedgehog with a shrug._

"_Here's my idea – since we know Shock can go in and out of Eggman's base practically at will, why don't we use _that_ to our advantage, instead? He could bring us information and stuff. Well," Tails' blue eyes turned to the echidna, "that is if you don't mind being a double agent of sorts? Or have an idea of your own?"_

_Shock crossed his arms and thought for a moment, then gave a small shake of his head, "I can't think of anything. Your idea's good. I'm for it."_

"_Cool, it's settled," said Sonic, nodding._

"_Alright. I'd better get going."_

"_Whoa, slow down, there! Don't ya want something to eat?"_

"_I've spent long enough away. I don't _want_ to go back, but I've got to keep up appearances."_

"_Well, take something to go."_

"_Alright... do you have any oranges?"_

"_I should do," replied Tails, making his way to the kitchen._

"_Don'tcha want a chilli dog?" asked Sonic, holding up the last quarter of his own._

_The echidna grimaced, "They're not really my thing..."_

_Sonic blinked, "Uh... okay. I guess they're... not for everyone."_

"_Hey, Shock, here ya go!" said Tails and threw the echidna an orange, which he caught._

"_Thanks."_

"_Hey, d'ya know nothing rhymes with orange?" said Sonic._

"_Yeah," said Tails and Shock at the same time._

_The hedgehog looked at them both, "Oh... right," he said and stuffed the last of his chilli dog in his mouth._

"_Okay, I guess I'll... see you later," said Shock and began walking away._

_Sonic quickly finished chewing, swallowed his morsel, and began following the echidna outside, "Listen, thanks for being cool about all this."_

"_Yeah."_

"_If you ever need a place to stay, come by any time," said Tails._

"_I might do that."_

"_Alright, cool! See ya!" said Sonic and waved Shock off as the echidna climbed onto the Motobug and ordered it back to Eggman._

.

The elevator doors parted and, like he had done countless times before, Shock stepped into the harshly-lit lab of Doctor Eggman, only this time it felt different. He felt more vulnerable than he did before. It could have just been because he now knew the truth about the Doctor, who was currently standing looking out of the large window at the far end of the lab with his gloved hands clasped behind his back.

"Where have you been?" he asked suspiciously in his gruff voice, looking over his shoulder at Shock.

"Sorry. I got caught up fighting Sonic and Tails again," the echidna replied, pretending to limp a little as he walked towards Eggman.

"Is that so? What happened?"

Shock reamed off the story he had made up in his head on the way back, hoping it sounded convincing enough.

"...Then that fox came flying out of nowhere and got me hard in the leg. I was able to get out of there, though," he finished.

"I see. That's unfortunate about your injury," said the Doctor, who had turned to face him.

"You can say that again."

Eggman walked over to a door and stopped, turning to the echidna, "Despite that, do you feel up to assisting me with something?"

Shock shrugged, "I guess," he said, and, remembering to limp, followed the Doctor inside a mostly empty, plastic-floored room with a metal slate suspended above the floor by two steel bars with rubber fitted over the clamps.

"You see this slate? It's made of titanium," said Eggman.

"Yeah?"

"Give it your best shot. Hit it with as many volts as you can in one go."

"Are you sure that's safe?"

"Yes, I'm sure. Titanium is the least conductive metal, you see."

"Alright... but what's this for?"

"No offense, but you wouldn't understand. However, one way to look at it is to see just how much power you have in you."

Shock studied the slate, then nodded, "Okay."

Eggman stepped back as the echidna summoned the electricity in his body. Shock built up the charge to its peak, holding it as a perfect blue-white ball crackling between his hands. He hadn't summoned this much energy very often. Holding so much power was as frightening as it was exhilarating.

With arcs of electricity flowing over his body, he focused on the titanium slate, then released the ball with a loud crackle. The ball exploded against the metal, sending out a shower of sparks. There was a faint buzzing noise and the air smelled slightly of ozone. Shock turned back to Eggman, who stood with his mouth agape and his moustache hairs standing on end. Looking down at himself, Shock noticed that his own grey fur was puffed out.

"Very impressive, my young echidna friend," said Eggman, unsuccessfully trying to smooth his moustache.

"I have to admit; that felt good."

"That was your maximum, yes?"

"It was."

"Let's check the terminal outside. It should give us a reading of just how strong an electric charge your body holds."

Shock nodded and started walking to the door, but had only gone a few steps before getting a tingling feeling inside him.

Hearing the footfalls behind him stop, Eggman turned, "Shock?"

"It's happening..." said the echidna through gritted teeth.

"Don't try to control it. Let's see if the bracelet does what we need it to."

Instead of trying to fight it back, Shock apprehensively let the discharge run its course. Arcs of electricity appeared as usual, then, before they could shoot off, the bracelet beeped. Shock felt a pleasant cooling sensation sweep through his body. The tingling dissipated, along with the crackling arcs.

Shock held up his right wrist and looked at the device in wonder.

"It... _worked_..." he breathed.

"A success!" crowed Eggman with a laugh.

"I'm free of it. It still... _happens_... but it's not a danger to everyone, anymore," Shock ran his fingers over the bracelet, "I'm... free..."

He stood for long moments, almost unable to absorb the information. Something that had plagued him his whole life, the main cause of him being alone, was now gone. He had isolated himself to protect others from the discharges. It was the very reason he had left home; he had injured his own father during one of the attacks. Fortunately, the bolt was weak and his father recovered quickly. Even though his parents did not blame him, as they knew he couldn't control it, Shock didn't want to risk harming his parents again. Next time they might not be so lucky. So, after a tough decision, he left.

That was around nine years ago. And now, with this device, he didn't have to worry about unintentionally hurting anyone. Especially his parents. His heart soared and he started shaking in anticipation.

He could go home.

"Shock?"

Eggman's rough voice awakened him from his reverie.

"Y-Yes, Doctor?"

"Are you feeling alright?"

Shock took a deep breath to calm himself, "I'm fine."

Eggman motioned with a nod of his head for Shock to follow him.

Outside the room, the echidna saw the large Doctor typing commands into a console at lightning speed, his fingers flying over the keys as deftly as a pianist's. He studied the data readout and then made an exclamation.

"Here it is, Shock," he said, pointing at the monitor, "It appears you can hold an electric charge of approximately... eight-point-seven million volts. Impressive."

"Eight-point-seven... _million_?" asked Shock in awe and disbelief, "Are you sure you didn't misread that?"

"There is no mistake. It says it quite clearly here," replied Eggman, gesturing at the number on-screen. Shock wanted to see with his own eyes and looked where the Doctor was pointing.

_V: 8,704,616_

The echidna stared at the huge number, then lifted his hands in front of his face. A sceptical frown appeared, "Isn't that a bit big?"

"Not really, especially when compared to lightning, which can generate anywhere from one hundred million to one _billion_ volts."

Shock blinked, "Wow, that's... amazing..."

"The power of nature is truly incredible," agreed Eggman, turning his head to stare out the window where the sun tried to shine its brilliant light on the dismal, dirty city below the murky clouds.

There was a silence between the two. Shock's gaze fell upon the life-changing bracelet on his wrist. He knew Doctor Eggman was a liar and had deceived him, but he was genuinely grateful to the overweight scientist for his creation. As he spent most of his time alone, the echidna had had to handle practically everything by himself, so his experience in giving thanks to anyone was practically none. And normally, he wouldn't thank the Doctor, but he thought it would help solidify the image that he still believed the lies he was being fed.

"I..." he dropped his arm and looked up at the bald, bespectacled man, "...Thank you, Doctor. For this bracelet."

"Of course," said Eggman, placing a heavy hand on the young echidna's shoulder, "Well, I think you should take a break. Walk around for a while, get something to eat... just don't leave the building..."

_Darn..._

"...I may need your assistance with something else later."

"Alright," he replied quietly.

Shock had hoped to get out; he was feeling a little stifled, although he wasn't sure the thick air outside would be any better. But he did as the Doctor said and stayed within the confines of the tall building, hoping to be free of the place and see his parents once again. He knew exactly where they were. Still in the house he had been raised in, still together, still happy. Happy without him? Or was it a mask? He'd find out.

_Mama, Papa... I'm coming... wait for me..._


	8. Fog of War

Sat at his desk and bent over, staring at a computer monitor, Tails sat upright when he heard the knock on his door. Quickly typing in the last few characters on the screen, he swivelled his chair away from his desk and walked over to the door. It was bound to be one of two people: Sonic or Rouge.

Upon opening the door, he was greeted with a pink, heart-shaped breastplate.

"Hi, Rouge," he said, craning his neck up to meet her gaze.

"Hey there."

"Sonic's not here right now, but—" Tails started to explain, then saw a streak of blue approaching, "Oh, wait. There he is."

Sonic skidded to a stop a few feet from them, kicking up a cloud of dust.

"Rouge! Ya showed up!" he greeted.

"Hi," she responded, "You wanted me for something?"

"Sure did. Tails, step aside and let the lady in."

The fox did so and Sonic followed Rouge inside.

"So," said Rouge, walking over to a desk and sitting on it, "What did you boys call on little ol' me for? You need a woman's presence around here?"

Sonic and Tails glanced at each other, "Uh... not exactly," replied the hedgehog.

"It's actually about that echidna you met," explained Tails.

The bat leaned forward, "Oh, Shock? Has he been asking after me?"

"No, it's just... we haven't heard from him for a couple of days. And, well..."

"...Well, we asked him to do a little, uh... spying for us," finished Sonic.

"You're having him spy on Eggman?" asked Rouge, leaning back again.

"Keep it down. But... yeah."

"So where do _I_ fit into this? Wait, let me guess..." she put a finger on her chin and cocked her head in mock thought, "...you want me to go and check up on him."

The two noticed it wasn't a question.

"Yeah. That and bring back any information he has for us," said Sonic, "I mean... you should be able to show up at Eggman's base without arousing _too_ much suspicion."

"Oh, is that all?" said Rouge, crossing her legs and leaning back on her hands.

Sonic could tell from the look she was giving him that she was asking what was in it for her. He rolled his eyes and sighed. Reaching into his quills, he took out the purple Chaos Emerald.

Rouge's eyes got bigger and she looked hungrily at the shining purple gem.

"If you do this for us _and_ don't let on to Eggman... we'll give you the Emerald," Sonic said, reluctantly.

"My, my... how lovely."

Sonic hid it behind him again, "Yeah, but you're not getting it unless you hold up your part of the bargain."

"Well, alright. I suppose I could make something up to tell Eggy why I'm there."

"Thanks, Rouge. We appreciate it."

"I'll bet you do, hon," she smirked, getting off the table. She opened the front door and looked back, "Keep that Emerald safe for me."

Leaping into the air, Rouge took off flying.

"She could've at least shut the door," muttered Sonic, walking over and closing it himself.

"I wish we didn't have to offer her a Chaos Emerald to do this," said Tails, seating himself on his desk chair again.

"Yeah, but what else could we give her? I was hoping she'd do it for free, but..." he shook his head and briefly raised his hands.

Tails swivelled the chair to face the screen and resumed typing, "Maybe she'll give it back if she thinks you really need it."

"We'll worry about that later," replied Sonic, looking out the window, "I just hope Shock's okay. If Egghead's caught on to him... man..."

.

The sun over Metropolis Zone continued its daily, fruitless attempt to break through the thick clouds. Standing out against the dark, dull canopy was a bat wearing a brightly-coloured battle suit. She covered her nose as she flew over the smoggy city.

_Ugh, is a Chaos Emerald really worth this smell? Wait, what am I saying? Of course it is..._

She coughed, _But this is still no place for a lady..._

Up ahead, Rouge spotted the tall building with the golden Eggman head. She beat her wings and flew towards it as fast as she was able; the hot, thick air making it difficult.

She descended swiftly in front of the building, coughing twice more at the fumes. The two praying mantis-shaped robots raised their claws as she approached, scanning her, then, recognising the bat, they moved back and lowered their sharp instruments.

Rouge smirked, _Knowing the Doctor has its perks. Not that I couldn't have taken care of these two if I wanted..._

She pressed a button the intercom next to the door.

"Oh Eggy, are you there?"

There was a brief period of silence, then Eggman's rough voice barked through the speaker, "_Hm? Who's there?_"

The bat sighed, "Don't you recognise my voice?"

"_Oh, Rouge. Yes, hello. What is it?_"

"Nothing much. Just wondering if Shadow was there...?"

"_No. Why would he be?_"

"Well, I don't know. Maybe you had something you wanted him to do?"

"_I don't and he's not here._"

"Okay..."

Rouge waited, staring at the intercom. She crossed her arms and frowned. Finally, she pressed the button and spoke again, "Well?"

"_Well what?_"

"It was a long flight here. I'm tired and hungry," she said, trying to hint with her voice.

"_Yes?_"

She passed a hand over her face and rolled her eyes, "Can I come in?"

"_Oh, I suppose,_" replied Eggman with an exasperated sigh.

The metal doors slid apart, "Thank you, Doctor."

The bat entered and casually walked towards the elevator, ignoring the robots following her movements.

.

Pink-tipped white boots stepped out of the elevator.

"How are you, Eggy?" asked the bat.

"Hello, Rouge," said Eggman, not sounding too thrilled.

"What's up with you?"

"I'm just busy."

"Oh, don't worry about me. I won't get in your way," she said, waving a dismissive hand. She looked over and smirked at the grey echidna who had stepped in from an adjacent room, "Hey, Shocky," she cooed.

Shock, initially surprised to see Rouge again, averted his gaze, "Hi."

Eggman looked between the two, "You two... know each other?"

"...Kinda. I met him a while ago and we had a little chat. Right?" asked Rouge.

"...Yeah," replied the echidna.

"So what are you boys up to?" asked Rouge, intending to get the information she was asked to as soon as possible.

"Nothing you should be concerned about," replied Eggman, typing on the keyboard in front of him.

"Just a little hint?"

Eggman glared at her.

She raised her hands in defence, "Okay, okay, fine," she said, turning from him and walking towards the echidna, who was keeping himself busy by straightening out the lab. She reached out and tickled the back of his neck.

He inhaled sharply and a tingle passed through him as her fingers brushed on his skin. Turning, he found himself face-to-face and close, very close, to the bat.

"Hey," she said, enjoying his evident awkwardness.

"Yeah, hi," he mumbled and tried to walk away, but Rouge, with her usual mischievous expression, moved to block his path, "What?" he asked, impatiently.

"I'm kinda hungry and tired. There any food or beds around here?" she asked in a dulcet tone, leaning forward slightly and looking deeply into the echidna's eyes.

"Yes, Shock, why don't you attend to our guest?" said Eggman without turning from his keyboard, then muttered, "Maybe it'll give us some peace around here..."

Rouge slipped a hand around Shock's arm, "Oh, how sweet of you, Shocky."

"My name's _Shock_," he said, sternly, feeling slightly irritated that she was getting to him.

"I know, but I think 'Shocky' is cuter."

The echidna sighed and, with the bat hanging off his arm, led her to the elevator, as the kitchen was on a different floor from the lab.

During the elevator ride, Rouge turned her head to the uncomfortable Shock, "You know, there's a reason I'm here, Shocky."

"What is it? To annoy me?"

"Don't be silly. I don't annoy you," she grinned as he rolled his eyes, "Anyway, a certain hedgehog wanted me to check up on you and get information on what Eggy's up to from you. Got anything?"

"Yeah, a couple of things. But..." he lowered his voice as the elevator reached its destination, floor thirty-six, "...we can't talk about them right now. The Doctor's mechs might relay the information back to him. I'll tell you later."

"Fine by me. And I'm glad that you're okay, hon."

_I'll bet..._ thought the echidna and stepped out of the elevator with Rouge still holding his arm.

**A/N: In case anyone is wondering – no, there is not going to be a love story between Rouge and Shock. She's just being her usual flirty self.**


	9. Hot Meals, Cold Memories

With two meals on a metal tray, Shock led Rouge to a dining area that resembled a military cafeteria, with long tables with affixed benches and harsh lighting.

"Do we have to eat _here_?" asked the bat in slight disgust at the sterile, drab, and cold room.

"Where do you want to eat?" asked Shock, "There's not many choices, you know."

"Well, why don't you show me my room and we can eat there?"

The echidna grunted.

"Come on, Shocky. It'll be more comfortable than here," she said. Then, lowering her voice and leaning in close to his ear, "And it'll give us a chance to talk," she whispered, barely moving her lips, aware of the robots moving around nearby, seemingly oblivious of the two.

"You'll bug me about it until I give in, won't you? I guess you're right, anyway," he replied, nodding, and turned to head back to the elevator.

"Thanks, hon."

"Yeah..."

"Say, you do you have any candles?"

"What?" he asked, glancing at her.

"Candles. You got any?"

"Why?"

"So we can have a nice candlelit dinner together," she said, unable to help breaking into a wide grin, knowing how he would react.

He sighed and rolled his eyes, "No, we don't have any candles," he told her, frowning.

They entered the elevator and Shock looked at the tray he was holding.

"My hands are full. Push the button for the third floor," he told her.

"Is that where my room is?" asked Rouge, pressing the button labelled _3_.

"Yeah. That's where all the rooms are."

"Including yours?"

"Of course."

"Are ours close?" she asked, moving closer herself.

Shock flushed, "...Yeah. Yours is Room Seven, the robot said."

She smirked, "I see. What number's yours?"

"Six..."

"And what about the other rooms? Who's in there?"

The elevator bumped to a stop and the doors parted.

"Nobody. Just storage. Rooms Six and Seven are the first free ones," said Shock, stepping out into the hallway.

"Ah, good to know."

Following the echidna, Rouge noted the security cameras placed along the hall, swivelling left and right. She had never liked those kinds of cameras. Not that she couldn't avoid them – they just slowed her down when she was doing some late night 'shopping'.

"This is it," said Shock.

"What a charming design," said Rouge with a raised eyebrow, indicating the Eggman caricature above the door.

They both entered the room and Shock set the tray down on a wooden crate.

"Alright. I guess we can talk safely, now," said the echidna.

"Yeah. _After_ we eat."

"Fine..."

Getting a couple of smaller crates from the other rooms, the two sat across from each other, using the larger crate as a substitute for a table. It was a crude setup, but certainly seemed better than eating in the dining area with robots constantly buzzing around nearby.

"So, you come here often?" asked Rouge, jokingly as they set what passed as food in front of them.

"Sorry it isn't more appetising," said Shock, frowning at the plate of cooked food.

The bat shrugged, "I've had much worse."

"I guess I'm just more used to fresh fruit and vegetables. This frozen stuff tastes... off to me."

"You've never had something like this before?"

"You mean before coming here? Yeah, but it was a long time ago. I can... hardly remember."

"Tell me what you _do_ remember," said Rouge, and took a sip of water from her glass, wishing it was wine.

Shock was silent for a moment, gathering his thoughts.

"I... well, it was back when I was at home. I enjoyed Mama's cooking, I remember that. But... I can't remember how anything tasted," he said, his eyes off to the side, unfocused.

"Tasted _good_, right?"

His eyes met hers briefly and he shook his head, "...That's not what I meant. More like a... _specific_ taste. But yeah, whenever she made something, it was... it was good."

"So what happened? Did she stop cooking?"

"No... she was the only one in our house who _could_ cook."

"So what do you mean 'it was a long time ago'?"

"I..." he let out a sigh, "I left home. For my parents' safety. Those discharges I was telling you about? That's the reason."

Rouge's expression softened, "Oh. I'm sorry to hear that."

He held up the bracelet, "But this works. It stops the discharges. After I'm done here, I'm going home," he took a deep breath at those words, "I'm going home," he said again, quietly.

"Well... good luck with that."

"Yeah. Thanks. Anyway, speaking of being done here..."

"Oh, yes. You said you found something, right?"

"Kind of. I'm not sure if this counts as something, but the Doctor's been having me firing large amounts of electricity at metal slates every so often. I think it's more than just testing my limits. I've noticed the metal seems to be affected less and less with each test. It could just be he's trying to devise a way to make a less conductive metal for some machine... or it could be something else. I don't know."

"Hmmm. Find out anything more?"

"Not really. Although, he says I'm not allowed on floor thirty-nine, just below the lab. I asked why, but he didn't tell me. I haven't really found the opportunity to sneak in and see what's there. Sorry."

The bat grinned, "Don't worry. Leave that to me," she said, then leaned forward and rested her chin on the back of her hand, "Anyway, why haven't you been talking to Sonic and Tails?"

"The Doctor won't let me out. I've _wanted_ to get out and talk to them, but of course, I have to be cooped up in here," he said, dourly, looking out the window.

"That's why I'm here. I'll let them know what you've found out, alright?"

"Alright. Thanks."

"Don't mention it, hon," she replied with a wink.

.

Late at night, after Shock had retired to his room, Rouge slipped out of her own room and made her way down the hall towards the elevator. She flitted from wall to wall underneath the cameras as they turned their viewfinders away from the direction she was heading; an easy task for her. Reaching the elevator, she hit the button for the thirty-ninth floor.

When the elevator reached its stop, she flattened against the wall. After the doors opened, she waited. When nothing happened, she cautiously peeked out. The doors opened to a small square chamber with a large, heavy-looking circular door. Beside it was a panel with a red light illuminated. She was about to enter when her thieves' 'sixth-sense' kicked in. Stopping at the entrance of the elevator and holding her hand out to the side to stop the doors from closing, she looked up and saw a camera, unmoving, affixed above the elevator and pointed directly at the circular door.

She could see no way to avoid stepping into its field of view. Even if the door wasn't there, the camera would still see anything crossing the chamber. But there was always a way.

_Nobody said it was gonna be easy..._ she thought, _Oh well, going through the front door is too boring, anyway..._

Travelling down to the floor below, Rouge quietly snuck through a large room filled with computers, keeping an ear and eye out for any patrolling robots. The heat the computers generated didn't make it easy to concentrate, however. Finally, she found what she was looking for – a window.

Although she hadn't encountered anything, Rouge took a quick look behind her before opening the window. Cool air rushed in and she gave a thankful sigh. She stepped out, unfurled her wings and closed the window before flying up. Strangely, there were three sets of windows, the third being for the lab in the fortieth floor at the top, instead of two. Flying up to investigate, keeping alert for any of the Doctor's flying robots, she peeked in. As it turned out, the thirty-ninth floor was two storeys high and it looked like something big was being built inside. Taking out her glass cutter, Rouge flew around and found a window she would be able to sneak in without drawing any attention.

Hovering near it, she attached the device to the glass and slid it over the pane three hundred and sixty degrees, creating a clean circle. She pulled the glass out carefully and slowly flew in backwards, carrying the cut out section with her. Thankful the glass was a little thicker than usual, with practiced skill, she set the glass back in place. After carefully detaching the glass cutter, Rouge slipped under a set of stairs, watching from the shadows. In the centre of the large, open area, _something_ was being built, but with the scaffolding and large metal plates being moved around it, it was hard to tell what. Wanting to get a better look, she quietly and agilely climbed the sturdy support beams around the area up to the rafters, instinctively checking for infrared emitters on nearby walls on the way up.

Finding a spot that allowed her a decent view and kept her hidden enough, Rouge saw what looked like a partially complete robot coloured a slightly off yellow.

_Looks like Eggy didn't want Shock to know this was being built... now why would that be?_

She watched for a few more minutes, but nothing of note happened, so she stealthily made her way back down to the window she had entered.

_Eggman building a robot is nothing new... but why keep it a secret from Shock?_

Deciding she would worry about that later, the bat retraced her steps and, once back in her room, climbed under the grey covers of her temporary bed. She smirked as she laid her head on the pillow. Although she hadn't acquired any new jewels to add to her collection, it was fun sneaking past Eggman's defences.

Besides, there was that Chaos Emerald Sonic had promised her to look forward to.


	10. Eggman's Thunder

Murky morning light dully filtered in through the smog-stained window and did little to lighten the drab laboratory. The sun tried for the thousandth time to burn away the thick clouds of Metropolis Zone, and for the thousandth time failed. Shock and Rouge leaned against the windowsill in the Doctor's lab, the passive battle of the sun and the clouds continuing behind them.

The gaze of the two went to the clock mounted on the wall. Almost nine-thirty.

"Where do you suppose he is?" asked Shock.

"Oh, who knows?" replied Rouge with a shrug, "He could just be sleeping long."

"He doesn't seem the type, but I guess we all sleep longer than intended, sometimes."

Silence hung between them. Then Rouge spoke up, "Oh, I found out what's on the thirty-ninth floor."

Shock quickly scanned the room to be sure there were no eavesdroppers.

"Alright?"

"Well, it's nothing too exciting. There's some kind of big robot he's building there."

"A robot, huh?"

"Yeah. I don't know why he'd keep you from knowing about it."

"Hm."

"Then again, it was pretty ugly, so maybe he's embarrassed about it," she said with a small laugh.

The corner of Shock's mouth twitched up for a brief second. He prayed Rouge didn't see it.

"...Was that a smile I saw?" she asked.

_Oh great..._

He didn't answer and instead turned his head away.

"Come on, let me see one," she said.

"I've got nothing to smile _about_."

"You're here with me..." she said, giving him a playful elbow.

"Exactly," he said, turning his head towards her again.

"Oh, that's not very nice," she replied with mock sadness.

Turning his attention to the elevator, Shock wished the Doctor would arrive and give him something to do. Something that required him to be alone.

"_Please_, Shocky?"

"I'm not going to."

Rouge lowered the pitch of her voice, "I'm No Smile Man, and I'll use my super-strong face muscles to not smile."

With a sigh, the echidna rolled his eyes.

Rouge continued, "Smiling is my one weakness. If I do it, my face will crack."

He crossed his arms and turned his back to her, "Are you done?" he asked. However, the real reason he turned away was because he felt a smile tug at his lips, one he tried to fight back. He felt slightly annoyed at her for being able to do that.

"Okay, I'm sorry," she said resting her arms on his shoulders, her wrists crossing between his shoulder blades.

"Do you think the Doctor is down there with the robot?" he asked, hoping to change the subject and trying to ignore the fact she was practically leaning on his back.

"Hmmm. Maybe."

"You will tell Sonic and Tails for me, won't you?"

"Of course I will, hon."

"Great. Now, would you mind not leaning on me so much?"

Rouge smiled and did so.

"Actually, maybe I should go now...?" she wondered.

"Go ahead."

"I'm so glad to know you'll miss me."

"Yeah, it's going to cause me some severe emotional trauma."

Rouge laughed, "You're a pretty funny guy, Shock."

He grunted.

"See you later. Oh, and in case I don't see you again before you leave here," she leaned in and kissed his cheek, making him go red, "Good luck with your parents."

He cleared his throat, "Uh... thanks. Bye," he said.

She nodded and walked into the elevator. She waved goodbye before pressing the button for the ground floor. He simply looked back at her, the elevator doors closed, and he was alone once more. It was now so quiet, he could hear the fans and hard drives of the computers in the room and the buzzing of the harsh overhead lights.

In one way, he was glad he was alone again, yet part of him wished she had stayed. He turned and stared out of the window, _She annoyed me sometimes, really annoyed me. But... she was someone nice to talk to..._ he lifted his right arm to look at the bracelet once again, _I guess it was good preparation for when I get back home. Mama and Papa will want me to talk about where I've been and what I've been doing..._

He closed his eyes,_ Just a bit longer... then I can go back where I belong..._

.

For the next few days, Shock only saw Doctor Eggman every so often. He would come into the lab for an hour or two and then leave again, usually assigning the grey echidna a task on his way out. When asked what he was doing, the Doctor avoided the question and Shock thought it best not to press the issue.

One morning, Eggman called the echidna over.

"Shock, thank you for helping me out. I know you must be _itching_ to get outside."

"You can say that again."

"Tell you what, why don't you take the day off? The whole day. Take a Motobug and go wherever you like."

Shock blinked, "Really?"

"Yes, of course."

"Well... thanks. I'll do that."

Shock didn't hide his relief. At last, the outdoors, fresh air, warm sunshine... and the chance to talk to Sonic and Tails.

"Oh, and," continued Eggman, "In case you're wondering; I'll be letting you go on your way soon. _Very_ soon."

Shock couldn't believe his luck.

"Thanks," Shock said again. He turned and left.

.

The sun felt so good after all this time and the air's sweet freshness cleansed his lungs. Cottony, fluffy clouds hung in a brilliant azure sky over a beautiful green clearing. He lay down on the soft grass with his hands behind his head. He closed his eyes and let the sounds of nature surround him.

_I'll talk to Sonic and Tails in a while... I've got a whole day..._

This is what he was used to. He could barely remember what life was like with his parents. But it wouldn't be long until he was back with them. It would take some time to adjust being back in a house and having home-cooked meals, but if he was with them, it would be easy.

He imagined approaching their house, the house he never had a chance to grow up in, and knocking on the door. Hoping they would be pleased to see him, in his mind's eye, the door opens and both of them are standing there. Their expressions change from surprise, to anger, to happiness. His mother gathers him in her arms, crying with joy, and he feels his father's strong arms encircle them both. Would he like something to eat? Anything at all? Yes, he would, Mama. Join them in the kitchen and tell them what he's been doing all these years while he waits. Good idea, Papa. He left for their safety, but now he has a way to stop the inadvertent discharges. He wants to live with them again. He'll tell them what he's been doing while away from home, but there's something important he has to say to them, first:

"Mama, Papa... I love you."

.

Shock opened his eyes and sat up groggily. Two nearby squirrels scampered away when they sensed him move. He rubbed his eyes with one gloved hand at squinted up at the sky. The sun had moved considerably since he had last looked. Had he fallen asleep? There was that curious 'weak' feeling in his muscles, so he _must_ have drifted off. He had only intended to rest his eyes, but it seemed he didn't realise just how tired he was.

_I should look for Sonic and Tails. They'll have been wondering what's happening. Not that I have any better idea what's going on either, but..._

As he got to his feet, he heard something crashing through the trees to his right. He looked over and saw a large yellow robot stomping towards him.

_The Doctor? It must be. _Great_ timing..._

The towering robot stopped several feet from the echidna. It was at least fifteen feet tall with a thick, barrel-like torso. Huge, round legs supported the torso, and on the end of each arm was a large, blunt-tipped, bullet-shaped object. Sitting atop the contraption, was a semi-sphere where the echidna guessed Eggman was sitting.

_This is probably what Rouge was talking about..._

"Why hello, Shock," said Eggman, his voice emanating from an unseen speaker on the robot.

"Doctor? What are you doing here?"

"You've probably been wondering what I've been up to for the last few days. Well, this is it. My latest robot... _Egglectro_!"

Shock raised an eyebrow, "_Egg_... lectro?" he asked.

"Yes! And with this, I shall defeat Sonic and finally rule the world! But first, Shock..." the robot leaned forward, "There's something I have to take care of..."

The echidna stepped back.

"I know what you've been up to outside," said Eggman, "What you've been doing behind my back."

"You... what?"

"Look to your right."

Cautiously, Shock turned his head. A small red flash caught his eye. There was something the size of an insect floating in front of him.

"You see that? I had this little robot follow you whenever you were outside my lab. You've been collaborating with Sonic. Rouge had something to do with it, too, I suppose, but you _chose_ to listen to her. I didn't fully trust you, and I see I was right not to."

Grimacing, Shock raised his hand and sent out a small burst of electricity at the tiny robot, destroying it.

"Oh, does this mean we're not friends, anymore?" asked Eggman, sarcastically, "That's too bad. In that case, I guess you don't want that device, then?"

Before the echidna could figure out what he meant, he felt the bracelet around his wrist loosen. It slipped off and fell to the ground. A second later, there was a small explosive _pop_, followed by smoke rising from the bracelet.

Shock's blood went cold.

_No! My chance! My only chance! I wasn't a danger to anyone with that! No! This can't be happening!_

He clenched his fists, shaking with rage. He looked up at the robot with hatred.

"Oops! Did I break it?" asked Eggman with a cruel laugh.

Shock built up a large ball of electricity, sparks arcing over his arms and funnelling into the flashing white-blue orb. With a cry of anger, he launched it forward. It connected with the yellow metal of Eggman's latest creation, exploding over the torso and creating a loud buzz.

The robot sank to one knee and hunched over, unmoving.

Shock glared at it, breathing heavily.

"Eggman..." he growled.

To the echidna's surprise, the robot suddenly stood up as if nothing had happened.

"Think again!" crowed Eggman, and pointed a large arm at Shock, "Remember those experiments I had you perform? What do you think they were for? Just to test your limits? No. I wanted something that would stand up to you in the event I would have to face you, so I had you give everything to them. Now I have a robot made from non-conductive metal with a special coating. So, unless you can find a way to generate _lightning_, there's not much you can do."

The robot reared back a massive arm.

"So long, friend!"

Shock reactively raised his own arm and closed his eyes as the blunt tip rushed toward him. Eggman laughed as the arm smashed through the ground where the echidna stood.


	11. Fall of Egglectro

The huge, blunt tip came at Shock like a train, and he knew that when it hit, there would be almost nothing left of him. Images of his parents flashed through his mind as he waited, eyes closed, for his end.

Then he felt himself being thrust in one direction, he wasn't sure which. He heard the loud boom of the robot's arm smashing into the ground and there was a slight pressure on his chest. Curiously, he felt no pain and heard the wind whistling in his ears.

The movement stopped and when he opened his eyes, he saw a blue hedgehog grinning at him.

"Sonic?"

"Hey there."

Shock looked around, and discovered he was behind a large rock. To his far right, the robot was pulling its blunt weapon out of a crater as Eggman's laughter filled the air.

His blue eyes turned to the hedgehog again.

"What are you doing here?"

Sonic raised an eyebrow, "Oh, you're welcome."

"Sonic, what are you doing here?" the echidna asked again.

"I came to help ya, what else?"

"Get out of here, this is my fight!"

"You can't beat that thing alone. I know what it's capable of."

"How can you possibly know that?"

"Eavesdroppin'," said Sonic, smirking, "When I heard trees crashing down in the distance, I ran up and saw you talkin' to Egghead. Good thing I showed up, huh?"

"That's great, Sonic, but I said this is my fight. I don't need anyone's help."

The hedgehog put a hand on the echidna's shoulder and his face took on a serious look, "Listen. You can't beat that thing alone. You can't. Let me help you. I'll leave you alone afterwards if that's what you want... but you have to trust me – you _need_ help with this."

For a few short seconds, Shock mulled it over, and then looked at Sonic.

"Alright. Let's do it."

Sonic's grin returned and he nodded.

.

Eggman laughed as the heavy arm of the robot extracted itself from the ground, dirt and debris falling from it. In the rubble-filled crater, there was no movement. The head slowly rotated in a clockwise direction, scanning the area. One full turn later, Eggman clapped his hands together.

"Oh ho ho ho! Not a trace! Well, that's one less nuisance."

"You talkin' about me?" asked a familiar voice.

The Doctor leaned over the control console, glaring.

"Sonic! I should've known you'd show up..."

"So what are you up to this time? Somethin' stupid again, I bet."

"I'll have you know, I just took care of that echidna you were talking with over the last few days."

"Oh, Shock? So, you found out, then?"

"Yes, and now he's done for!" gloated Eggman, then laughed.

"Is that so?" asked Sonic and looked to his right. The grey echidna stepped into view, "'Cause he looks fine to me."

"_What?_"

"Ready?" Sonic asked.

Shock nodded.

Sonic ran towards the huge robot, evading the surprisingly fast arms. He jumped on the left one and used it as a platform to bounce up to the cockpit. The robot temporarily halted as Eggman reared back in surprise. He gritted his teeth at the hedgehog waving at him through the glass. Before he could react, Sonic leapt back, curling into a ball in mid-air. He slammed into the robot's right arm repeatedly.

"Argh! Stop that!" cried Eggman angrily.

The blue hedgehog balanced on the round arm, looking down at the buckled yellow armour, then up at the cockpit, "Stop what? This?"

With a powerful push of his legs, he jumped high into the air, then came crashing down in ball form at a high speed. He smashed into the arm, breaking off the weakened armour and exposing the circuitry inside.

"_Nooo!_ Look what you've done, you stupid hedgehog!" yelled the enraged Doctor.

"Shock! Now!" cried Sonic.

The grey echidna moved into position and reared back an arm, gathering electricity. Then he thrust it forward, striking the unprotected circuitry with hot electric arcs. There was a bang and a shower of sparks as smoke started emanating from the complicated machinery. Suddenly, half the arm exploded and the two young anthros covered their heads. The robot, Egglectro, almost lost its balance from being forced back by the blast, but due to the expert handling of Doctor Eggman, it was steady again in seconds.

Sonic balled his hand into a fist, "Yes! We can do this! I'll take out the armour and you finish it off!"

Suddenly, the remaining arm swung forward to point at them, even though they were too far away to reach. However, to their surprise, the blunt tip split apart and a multi-barrelled chaingun slid out. As soon as it locked in place, the large, black barrels started rotating.

Without a second thought, Shock jumped in front of Sonic, thrust his hands in front of him and created a wall of electricity. A second later, bullets thudded out of the large gun. Thanks to Shock's quick thinking, all the bullets were harmlessly deflected away.

"Cool..." commented Sonic, watching the show with awe, although he still kept his head down.

The thunderous booming of the chaingun stopped when Eggman realised he wasn't getting anywhere. The gun retracted and the tip merged together again.

"Blast you!" Eggman yelled.

"Nah, ya tried that. Didn't do much," Sonic retorted, grinning.

"Then how about _this_?"

Eight small missiles shot from Egglectro's back, into the sky. Sonic and Shock's eyes followed them up, wondering what Eggman was doing. Then the hedgehog noticed the missiles turning and heading back down.

"Uh-oh!" he cried. He got his legs moving, grabbing Shock as he passed him, slinging the echidna over his shoulder The missiles followed them, some exploding on rocks and trees, throwing debris into the air. Shock grimaced, covering his face with the back of his hand.

Sonic turned and rushed into a forest, hoping to lose the remaining four. However, the programming running inside them told them that they would have no chance of following their target through the trees, so they shot into the sky again and headed towards the ground, calculating where the hedgehog could be from disturbances in the trees.

Four explosions ripped through the forest as the missiles ploughed into the ground.

The Doctor scanned the trees for movement and readied the chaingun again – there was a chance those two survived.

.

Sonic set Shock back down. The echidna wobbled slightly and held onto a nearby tree for support.

"If you're gonna do that again, tell me beforehand, would you?" said Shock.

"Didn't have time. Sorry."

Shock shrugged and took a look around. They were deep in the forest with the sound of the robot some distance away. Apart from that, it was quiet; all the animals had been scared away by the loud noises.

"Man, that was close," said Sonic. He turned his head towards the mechanical sounds, "That thing's way too dangerous to keep around."

"Then let's wrap this up quickly."

"Now you're talkin' my language!"

The two rushed out of the trees, only to be confronted by the chaingun's barrels. The few short seconds of surprise were enough for the barrels to begin spinning before Shock could react. The hedgehog and echidna each launched themselves behind a couple of trees, gritting their teeth as the bullets fired from the large weapon and thudded heavily into their wooden cover. Bark, leaves and bullets flew around them.

Suddenly, the barrage stopped. The two had barely recovered when Egglectro started swiping away the trees. Shock's tree was snapped in two and the loud rending sound disoriented the echidna. He felt himself tumbling and then found he was lying on his back. staring up at the yellow robot, the chaingun still armed. The huge arm lifted up and Shock scrambled to his feet, glancing over at Sonic, who was getting up, himself.

The grey echidna jumped back as the arm came down and landed just in front of him, giving him a close-up view of the deadly weapon. Moving closer, Egglectro scooped up Shock, using the barrels like fingers.

Eggman grinned and was about to begin firing when the machine shook and the echidna fell to the ground, his black boots hitting the ground heavily, but he was otherwise unharmed. The Doctor grimaced and saw Sonic landing from his attack on the arm.

Without giving Eggman a chance to react, the cobalt hedgehog leapt onto the arm and began running in loops over it, becoming a blue blur. The vibrations from Sonic's antics made the arm shudder and emitted an annoying metallic rattling noise inside the cockpit.

Finally, he jumped into the air and proceeded to bash away at the yellow armour. With a final heavy attack, the armour fell off, landing noisily on the ground.

"My turn," said Shock and gathered electricity. He threw the bolts at the vulnerable arm, sending an extra large surge into the circuitry to ensure its destruction and the entire arm exploded almost immediately.

"Ha! What now, Egghead?" said Sonic.

"You little...! I'll show you what now!" yelled Eggman.

The chest area opened up to reveal a laser turret.

"Oh, you've _gotta_ be kidding me!" exclaimed Sonic, "How many weapons does this thing _have_?"

The turret aimed at the hedgehog and fired a green laser. Sonic twisted his body to avoid it, although he felt the heat from it as it passed him.

"Man, this is not good," muttered Sonic. He rolled left to avoid another blast and saw the turret swivel towards Shock, who jumped back and then ducked behind a tree to avoid the searing beams sent towards him.

The blue hedgehog took this opportunity to jump toward the weapon, hoping to destroy it with a spin attack. However, the barrel started to point his way.

"Uh-oh!"

Instead of spinning, Sonic landed on top of the turret, lying on his front with his hands and legs on either side. He clung on as Eggman swung him left and right, trying to shake him off.

Shock watched helplessly as the turret flicked its aim up, smashing Sonic against the hard body of the robot.

Before he could be smashed a fourth time, he used the momentum to propel himself up to the cockpit.

"Hey, that really hurt ya know," he said through the glass. Eggman simply smiled evilly.

Looking down, Sonic saw the barrel pointing straight at him.

"Ah."

Quickly, he backflipped off the machine a second before the laser sizzled through the area he had occupied.

"Sonic, look out!" yelled Shock, charging his electricity once again.

Retreating to the safety of the forest, Sonic watched as Shock thrust his hands forward, sending white-blue arcs at the laser turret. Green bolts flew past the echidna, but he ignored them and continued his attack. Smoke began pouring from the turret's blackened casing and the weapon slumped down.

Eggman let out an angry snarl and banged on the control panel. He had no weapons left, but wasn't about to let the echidna, and definitely not the hedgehog, get away – he still had the robot's tremendous weight and the legs were functional.

"Fine! I'll crush you pests!"

However, immediately after his last attack, Shock had began forming a ball of electricity. Egglectro had barely taken two steps when the echidna loosed the crackling sphere at the mechanical monstrosity's still open chest area.

The yellow robot stumbled onto its knees with a heavy _boom_.

Eggman looked around at his crackling, fizzling control panel.

"Alright, Shock, Sonic, you've won this time! But I'll be back!"

The large scientist grinned and hit the eject switch to uncouple his Egg-O-Matic from the robot. His grin disappeared when nothing happened. He hit the switch several times, but there was no response.

The crackling intensified and Eggman looked around despairingly.

"...Oh no..."

Egglectro exploded, throwing the egg-shaped craft with its similarly shaped pilot up in the air and into the distance.

"Have a nice flight!" called Sonic, giving Eggman a farewell salute.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Shock kneel down next to something.

"What's up?"

The grey echidna didn't respond and picked up the ruined bracelet that held back his dangerous discharges. He stood up, shaking his head.

"Oh yeah. That thing," said the hedgehog.

Shock reared his arm back, ready to throw the device away, but Sonic stopped him.

"Whoa, whoa, hold on! Maybe Tails can get it working, again."

"Are you sure?"

"I wouldn't be surprised if he could. Come on, whaddya say?"

Holding the bracelet, thinking about his parents, Shock's mouth twisted, unsure. He still wasn't used to accepting help, but if there was still a chance to see them again...

He nodded, "Alright."

Sonic smirked and gave him a comforting slap on the back.


End file.
